This book, so immersive, thoughtfully penned and well-observed, invites readers to journey into one of Britain and Ireland’s most overlooked yet vital landscapes, the peat bog.

In Peatlands, acclaimed nature writer and Wainwright Prize-shortlisted author Alys Fowler offers a lyrical and deeply personal exploration of these dark, mysterious ecosystems. Living between boglands in Wales, Fowler writes not just as a botanist and journalist, but as someone whose everyday life is rooted in the rhythms and beauty of these waterlogged places.

From the haunting stillness of Scotland’s Flow Country to the remote Border Mires, from the sweeping moors of Bannau Brycheiniog and the windswept edges of the Peak District to the vast peatlands of Ireland, Fowler paints an intimate portrait of these carbon-rich wildlands. She weaves together natural history, ecology, folklore and fieldwork, revealing the astonishing biodiversity found in bogs, from insect life and rare bird species to strange, specialised plants and hidden aquatic worlds.

Peatlands is more than a love letter to an endangered habitat. It is a call to recognise the ecological importance of peat bogs in carbon storage and climate regulation, and to protect these ancient landscapes before they vanish.